The defending champions are going to get tested right out of the gate, as Germany is scheduled to lock horns with Mexico this Sunday in Moscow. The Germans have won six of their 11 meetings in history with Mexico, who only won once in the matchup, and that victory was way back in 1985. Germany on the other hand, can boast a fairly recent win over their first World Cup opponent, as they took Mexico down 4-1 in June 2017. Can the Germans kick off their campaign with a victory? Or will the Mexican squad get the upset?
The German team in Russia is built like most other German-made items: tough. After all, they are the defending World Cup champions. The Germans are littered with talents who are all capable of contributing to the team. Up front, they have Thomas Muller, Timo Werner, and Mario Gomez. Werner is a player to watch as he has scored 13 goals for RB Leipzig in 32 games in 2017-18 season. The midfield will be taken care of a stacked group that includes Toni Kroos of Real Madrid, Mesut Ozil of Arsenal, and Julian Brandt of Bayer Leverkusen to name a few.
The Germans have been underwhelming of late with only a win (2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia) in their last three matches, but if there’s a squad which could turn it around quick, it’s got to be Germany, who are +450 to win it all in Russia.
Betting on Mexico (+590 Price / +1 Spread)
It’s been a while since Mexico reached past the Round of 16. In fact, the last time they did was in 1986. However, El Tri have a reason to feel especially optimistic of their chances this time around, thanks to a number of players that mostly plays outside of Mexico’s domestic leagues. That includes Javier Hernández of West Ham. Chicharito scored three goals in 11 matches during the qualifiers. He also found the back of the net eight times for West Ham in the 2017-18 campaign. Hirving Lozano (PSV), meanwhile, is another fantastic scoring weapon for the Mexicans. Lozano and Jesus Manuel Corona (Porto) could form a nasty scoring trio for Mexico along with Chicharito.
